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Hershey 10K 2017 Recap

Race DetailsRegistration : $50 ( I missed the $45 cut off)Goodies: Woman cut short sleeve tech shirt, coupons for Hershey Park, coupons for cookies, recovery lunch bag of goodies. Weather: sunny, low of 32, light breeze in some spots. The Hershey 10K was my first "big" race in 2015, so it feels a little extra special. First let me tell you a short back story, somewhat related to the race. I registered for this race back in February, and had planned to go see Cabaret with my sister in Philadelphia later that day. Not that I need his permission, but I had told Roger all about this in February. Around the middle of March, he found an aikido seminar that he wanted to go to in Erie PA, and I re-arranged my plan to go see Cabaret with my sister another day instead. This ended up being Thursday night. Because of driving to Philly and having to be at work at 8:00 am on Friday Morning, I only slept 4 hours that night. By the time I went to pick up my bib for the race, I was tired, grouchy and hungry. From the moment I picked up my bib, until the moment I parked my car at the race, my only thoughts were of how tired I felt and how my body didn't want to run 6.2 miles. What I woreThat morning the temperatures were 34, with light wind and a real feel of 27. So I wore regular leggings, compression socks, a tanktop, lined black top and my running cap. I packed an lighter shirt just in case it felt warmer.

I love how that orange shirt looks on my sister

The RaceThe organizers like to start the race by the stadium, which is on a slight uphill and makes it very awkward. They also don't do a starting gun, or horn, people just start to slowly walk to the starting line and go. While we were waiting to start, a man ran past us and hit my sister on her shoulder. So I went after him, to tell him he needed to apologize to her, I hate when people shove others, but I especially hate when white men do this. My sister stopped me, she doesn't like confrontation. But I shouted that he was a jerk at his direction anyway. We ran towards the start line and I told my sister to have a good race. Other years, the 10K sells out 3 weeks before. This time, it didn't. But that didn't make it less crowded. I was too far in the back and was dodging people from the beginning of the race. I have a bad habit of starting at a slower pace than what I know I can do. I didn't have a goal, considering my exhaustion from the day before, but after finishing mile 1 at 9:11, the thought started to creep into my head that I could run this in under 55 minutes. Dear Hershey 10K Organizers: Whomever you put in charge of putting out the Kilometers markers for the first half of the race, does not know the difference between Kilometers and miles. The first mile was marked by the 1K flag. Mile 2 was marked with the 2K flag, and so on until mile 4. I had no pains on anywhere, but at around mile 2, I realized that my definition of almost flat, is not a normal one.... omg... I'm turning into a race organizer... can't properly describe a hilly course! But I know now from this race, that the Hershey 10K has deceptive hills... one doesn't feel you are running up, until one is completely out of breath! We ran by the outlets, I was struggling with my heart monitor strap, so by mile 4 (the mismarkedKilomer 4), I decided to stop fusing with it and let it go wherever it wanted! We went into Hershey Park and ran by the boardwalk. I was feeling good and strong, feeling so confident... until we hit the last Hershey Park Hill.... it's not the worst hill they have, but it's steep enough to slow down. Sometimes when I am struggling though a race, I find somebody who is way ahead of me, and try to pass them... this became a woman on pink tights, who I finally passed on the downhill on the way out of the park. The Kilometer markers finally lined up with the right distance, and as I passed the 9K flag, the song Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran. This really irritated me ! I am so tired of this song, and forgot it was on my playlist! I slowed down and took out my phone to skip it and find my finishing song. But this messed up my breathing! As I climbed the small hill towards the finish line, a side stich slowed me down again! it felt like the side of my abdomen was going to explode! I imagined myself all blown up to pieces on the side of the road, while others went on to finish the race... why does my brain get all crazy during races?.. but I pushed through and started sprinting when I saw the finish line... until some Jerk hole cut right in front of me to get his picture taken by the photographer at the finish line. I yelled at him "Hey, watch it!" maybe followed by some choice curse words! because he made me really angry.

My watch said my finish time was 53.57.

The finish lineI went and got my medal, my water and a recovery lunch bag and went to wait for my sister. While I was waiting, I saw Meranda, and I went over to congratulate her! She was so nice to accept a hug from this sweaty virtual stranger! I'm going to say it again : Meranda: I'm sorry I didn't offer you my water! It didn't occur to me! sometimes I'm rude!

I also saw Amy (Who I follow on instagram) and went over to congratulate her! I love that we know each other only from instagram, but she didn't run away screaming from me. My sister finished shortly after, and after she got her medal, recovery bag and water, we left because it was awfully windy and our sweaty clothes were making us feel cold.

We went for breakfast and enjoyed lots of hot coffee!

What I likedI loved the new shirt ! their old shirt was the one designed especially for muscular men unisex cut that is barely ever flattering on me. The courseCourse supportThe new 10K Magnet! What I didn't likeThe medal- it just didn't feel like the old quality of Hershey 10K medal from 2 years ago, and I found the design boring. No chocolate- for a race in Chocolate town, there is a very distinctive lack of chocolate, other than the characters from the park. Other years, we got some Hershey chocolate in the recovery bag, but this year there was no chocolate in the bag. The Oatmeal cookie in the recovery bag. I'm ok with oatmeal, but raisins make me question my reason for living.

Remember that boring story I told you at the beginning...No, it's ok. I forgot about it too. Anyway, I had moved my schedule because Roger wanted to go to an Aikido Seminar in Erie PA. Well, he changed his mind about going a week before, so I was tired and rushed for no reason. But we still ended up going to the Flight 93 Memorial later that day.

Comments

I'm so tired of jerks. They are everywhere, aren't they? I saw a post from the Boston Marathon yesterday where like 10 women in pink shirts held hands while running across the finish line, effectively blocking everyone behind them from crossing and getting a finish line photo. This is the world we live in.

This was my first race in hershey so I didn't know what to expect. I loved the medal and the shirt and didn't even notice the lack of chocolate at the finish line. I guess I got so much chocolate from staying at the Hotel...lol.I REALLY wanted to love this race and have it be one that I do every year, but I just didn't. I don't know if it was because I was sick or if it was the course???? I certainly LOVED being in Hershey for the weekend though and can't wait to return. Even though the course was hilly, I did think we got to run a good portion of it in the Park. It might be worth trying again! Congrats to you on an awesome race and time! It was great to meet you, hopefully we can chat longer at an upcoming race! Oh, and no worries about the water!

Looks like it doesn't matter where you are from there are always jerks about! Something similar happened to my friend at her last race - but unfortunately for her, when jerk pushed her, she fell over and grazed her cheek, elbows and knees. She was so brave though and got right up and finished the race in a very good time. But she was really shaken.